Method and apparatus of synchronizing two computer systems supporting multiple synchronization techniques

ABSTRACT

A method and system of synchronizing two computer systems supporting multiple synchronization techniques is described. In one example system, a portable computer system is loaded with synchronization transport modules. An application on the portable computer system is executed causing the application to automatically recognize the synchronization transport modules. The portable computer system receives a selection corresponding to one of the two synchronization transport modules. The selection could be from a user and would indicate that the user prefers to synchronize with the second computer system using a particular method of external communication. After the selection, the portable computer system synchronizes with the other computer system using the selected method of external communication.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of portable computer systems.In particular the present invention discloses improved methods forsynchronization of two different computer systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Portable computer systems have become valuable information appliancesthat provide important information whenever and wherever the user needsit. It has become apparent that one of the most important features ofportable computer systems is the ability to share data with largerdesktop personal computers. Several earlier patents such as “Method AndApparatus for Synchronizing Information On Two Different ComputerSystems” filed Oct. 18, 1995 with Ser. No. 08/544,927, now U.S. Pat. No.5,727,202 “Extendable Method And Apparatus For Synchronizing MultipleFiles On Two Different Computer Systems” filed Oct. 13, 1995 with Ser.No. 08/542,055, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,323 and “Method And Apparatusfor Synchronizing A Portable Computer System With a Desktop ComputerSystem” filed Jan. 30, 1997 with Ser. No. 08/792,166, now U.S. Pat. No.6,006,274 have addressed some of the issues involved in thesynchronization of two different computer systems.

As the portable computer systems have been put to use out in the field,some drawbacks in the current synchronization procedures have beenidentified. It would therefore be desirable to improve thesynchronization methods used with portable computer systems.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will beapparent to one skilled in the art, in view of the following detaileddescription in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptual diagram of computer synchronizationsystem between a portable system 110 and a personal computer system 150.

FIG. 2 illustrates a conceptual diagram of a typical computer operatingsystem.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram describing a method of generating arandom number seed.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram describing a method of creating aportable computer profile.

FIG. 5A illustrates a diagram of a graphical user interface dialog boxfor modifying profiles.

FIG. 5B illustrates a diagram of a graphical user interface dialog boxfor creating a new profile.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram describing how profile is downloadedinto a portable computer system.

FIG. 7 illustrates a diagram of a graphical user interface dialog boxfor modifying conduits.

FIG. 8 illustrates a diagram of a graphical user interface dialog boxfor setting conduit behavior.

FIG. 9 illustrates a diagram of a screen display for setting conduitbehavior on a portable computer system.

FIG. 10 illustrates the software architecture of a portable computersystem with an expandable synchronization transport adaptation layer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A method and apparatus for synchronizing two different computer systemsis disclosed. In the following description, for purposes of explanation,specific nomenclature is set forth to provide a thorough understandingof the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled inthe art that these specific details are not required in order topractice the present invention. For example, the present invention hasbeen described with reference to synchronization between a portablecomputer system and a desktop personal computer system. However, thesame techniques can easily be applied to other types of computerdevices.

General Synchronization System Architecture

FIG. 1 illustrates a conceptual diagram of computer synchronizationsystem between a portable system 110 and a personal computer system 150.The portable computer system 110 may be any type of small microprocessorbased computer system such as a cellular phone or a handheld personalinformation manager.

In FIG. 1 both the handheld computer system 110 and the personalcomputer system 150 are running calendar program. With a synchronizationsystem, the user can alter the data on both the calendar program 115 andon the handheld computer system 110 or the data on the desktop personalcomputer system calendar program 155 on the personal computer system150. Then, at some later point, the user should be able to reconcile thetwo different calendar databases by coupling the two computer systemtogether using communication link 140 and requesting a synchronization.The synchronization process combines the data from the modified personalcomputer calendar 155 and the data from the modified hand held calendar115 into a single reconciled calendar. The reconciled calendar is thenplaced into both the handheld computer system 110 and the personalcomputer system 150.

Details on implementing a basic synchronization system are set forth inthe patents “Method And Apparatus for Synchronizing Information On TwoDifferent Computer Systems” filed Oct. 18, 1995 with Ser. No.08/544,927, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,202 “Extendable Method And ApparatusFor Synchronizing Multiple Files On Two Different Computer Systems”filed Oct. 13, 1995 with Ser. No. 08/542,055, now U.S. Pat. No.5,884,323 and “Method And Apparatus for Synchronizing A PortableComputer System With a Desktop Computer System” filed Jan. 30, 1997 withSer. No. 08/792,166, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,274 which are herebyincorporated by reference.

Random Number Generation

To simplify the synchronization process, each record on both thepersonal computer system and the portable computer system has anidentification number. Corresponding records on the personal computersystem and the portable computer system will have matchingidentification numbers. Thus, to quickly locate corresponding recordsduring a synchronization, the synchronization program only needs to findrecords having matching identification numbers.

Referring to the synchronization system of FIG. 1, it is apparent thatin the time between synchronizations, new records may be created on boththe personal computer system and the portable computer system. Toprevent an incorrect correlation, new unique record identifiers must beassigned to new records created on either system. To prevent the samerecord identifier from being created on both the personal computersystem and the portable computer system, a series of random numbers areneeded for both systems. Methods of generating a series of randomnumbers exist, however an initial random number seed is required. Thus,a robust random number seed is needed for both the portable and desktopcomputer systems.

There are many known methods of generating random number seeds onpersonal computers such as counting the time that passes betweensuccessive keystrokes. However, in a pen based portable computer system,it is not as easy to generate random numbers. The problem is compoundedby the fact that the very first action which a user may perform afterturning on a portable computer system is to enter a new record to storea recently acquired information phone number or a new appointment.

The present invention proposes a method of generating random numbers insuch a portable computer system. Referring to FIG. 2, a block diagram ofone possible embodiment of a portable computer system is illustrated.Referring to the block diagram of FIG. 2, the portable computer systemincludes a main processor for performing processing instructions. Theprocessor is coupled to volatile memory system, a battery backed memorysystem, and a display through a computer bus.

When the portable computer is turned off, the contents of the batterybacked memory is retained for future reference. Other implementationsmay use flash memory to store information when the portable computersystem is turned off. However, the contents of the volatile memory beginto decay once the portable computer system is turned off. When theportable computer is turned back on, the volatile memory will containmodified version of what volatile memory contained when the battery wasturned off. Since different memory cells decay at different rates, thecontents of the volatile memory will be somewhat random. If a sufficientnumber of locations from the volatile memory are logically combined,then a random value can be created. One method of logically combiningthe data would be to exlcusive-OR (XOR) the data together. Anothermethod of creating a random value would be to add the data together suchthat overflows create a random pattern in the accumulator. To furtherrandomize the value, the contents of the processor's internal registerscan be combined to generate a final random number seed.

In one embodiment of a portable computer system, all the memory isbattery backed such that there is no memory decay to cause randomvalues. In such a system, an area of memory that is used to storetemporary variables can be used to provide semi-random values.Specifically, an area of memory that is used to store temporary valuesis defined as “dynamic memory.” The dynamic memory area is shared by allthe different applications. Since area is shared by several differentapplications and stores miscellaneous temporary variables, its contentsare semi-random. This semi-random area of memory can be logicallycombined to produce a random seed.

FIG. 3 illustrates a summary of a method of generating a random numberseed in a portable computer system that has just been turned on. First,the contents of the processor's internal register are logicallycombined. (The registers are combined first such that their initialstate at power up is preserved. Next, the register-based value is thenlogically combined with the contents of a portion of the memory thatcontains semi-random values. The result is a random number seed that canbe used to generate a series of random numbers. In one embodiment, therandom number seed is only initialized after a processor reset. Allsubsequent random numbers are created by applying a random numberalgorithm to the random number seed.

Synchronization Profiles

When a company adopts a particular computer technology for company wideusage, system administrators need tools to quickly configure the newlyadopted computer technology. For example, when a new program is adoptedfor use on companies personal computers, system administrator desire theability to install and configure the new program across the company'slocal area network (LAN).

The same principal applies to portable computer systems. When a companyadopts a portable computer system for company-wide usage, systemadministrators need to be able to quickly configure such portablecomputer systems. The present invention introduces the concept of a“user profile” for allowing a number of portable computer systems to beinitialized with the same information.

FIG. 4 describes the steps of setting up a user profile. Initially, thesystem administrator opens up a desktop companion program on a personalcomputer system. The administrator then selects a “users” menu where newusers may be created. Instead of creating a new user, the administratorselects a button for “profiles” to open a profiles dialog.

FIG. 5A illustrates one possible embodiment of a profiles dialog box.The profiles dialog box allows profiles to be created (new), renamed,and deleted. (The Users button allows the user to move directly to thedialog box listing all the known users if that is what the user reallywanted.) Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the user selects the new button tocreate a new profile. This causes a pop-up dialog box to request a namefor the new profile as illustrated in FIG. 5B. A name (such as“salesperson profile”) is entered and a new empty profile is createdwith that name. A profile is very similar to a user in that it isassociated with a set of data files used during synchronization exceptthat profile is not associated with any specific user or portablecomputer system.

The system administrator then returns to the main desktop companionprogram and edits the information associated with the new profile.Information from existing users can be copied into the new user profile.For example, if the system administrator has already entered all thecompany phone numbers into his own account, he can copy the addressinformation from his own address database into a address databaseassociated with the profile. Furthermore, information can be importedfrom external sources into the profile database. Thus, if the systemadministrator has a list of the company's customers, this customerdatabase can be imported into the profile for sales people.

After a profile has been created, the profile can be used to initializenew portable computer systems before the portable computer systems aredistributed to end users. FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram thatdescribes how new portable computers are initialized. First, the systemadministrator places the new portable computer system in asynchronization cradle connected to the personal computer storing theprofile and requests a synchronization. Since the portable computersystem has not been used, a “new user” dialog box will request a namefor the new portable computer system. Instead of entering a new name,the system administrator selects a “profiles” button that brings up aprofile dialog box. The system administrator then selects the profile todownload into the portable computer. The personal computer thendownloads all the information associated with the profile into theportable computer. However, no name is assigned to the portable computersystem. In one embodiment, the profile information may include specificconfiguration information such as network configuration and dial-upnumbers as well as the set of preloaded databases such as the company'stelephone directory. The preconfigured portable computer system can thenbe give to a user. It should be noted that several portable computersystems may be initialized using the same profile.

When a user that receives a preconfigured portable computer system firstsynchronizes the portable computer system with a personal computersystem, the new user dialog will appear since no name was associatedwith the portable computer system.

Synchronization Control

As set forth in the patent “Extendable Method And Apparatus ForSynchronizing Multiple Files On Two Different Computer Systems” filedOct. 13, 1995 with Ser. No. 08/542,055 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,323 asynchronization system is can be designed wherein different applicationsor databases are synchronized using individually tailor synchronization“conduits.” However, it has been determined that not all the installedconduits should be handled in the exact same manner.

A revised synchronization system has been proposed wherein each conduitmay be treated differently. Specifically, a user may adjust the conduitexecution to suit his individual needs. To adjust the conduit execution,the user opens a custom synchronization control dialog box asillustrated in FIG. 7. The custom synchronization control dialog allowsa user to change the synchronization control of an individual conduit orto restore default synchronization settings. To modify the behavior of aspecific conduit, the user selects the conduit and selects the “change”button to bring up a conduit change dialog.

FIG. 8 illustrates one possible conduit change dialog box. The changedialog box allows the conduit to behave in four different ways:synchronization, desktop overwrite, portable overwrite, and inactive.The synchronization setting is the default method of operation whereinthe corresponding databases on both the desktop and portable arereconciled. The desktop overwrite setting allows the contents of thedesktop personal computer database for the that particular conduit tooverwrite the portable computer's database. That setting would be usefulif all updates to that particular database are performed on the desktoppersonal computer. The portable computer overwrite setting is theopposite wherein the contents of the portable computer system overwritesthe desktop personal computer. Finally, the inactive setting preventsthat particular conduit from executing. This is useful when the user isnot using the associate application. By not performing executing aconduit, the synchronization time will be reduced and memory space willbe saved.

Referring to FIG. 8 it should be noted that there is a “set as default”check box. If the a “set as default” check box is selected whenmodifying a conduit's behavior, then the conduit's behavior will bemodified for every future synchronization. However, if the a “set asdefault” check box is not selected, then the modification to theconduit's behavior will only affect the next synchronization. After thefirst synchronization, the conduit will revert back to the default“synchronize” setting. This feature is useful if a user wishes to do aone time load of a fresh database, but then synchronize the twodatabases in every future synchronization.

As set forth in the patent “Method And Apparatus for Synchronizing APortable Computer System With a Desktop Computer System” filed Jan. 30,1997 with Ser. No. 08/792,166, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,274 the portablecomputer system can be synchronized with a desktop personal computersystem across a telephone line. This can be performed by directlyconnecting to the desktop personal computer with a modem or connectingto the desktop computer through a LAN connection made with a modem-basedPPP connection. In such a situation, the speed of the synchronizationwill be limited by the modem communication speed. To minimize thesynchronization time, the present invention also provides a method ofaltering the synchronization behavior when the synchronization is beingperformed across a modem link. This feature is configured on theportable computer system since the remote desktop personal computer isnot accessible.

FIG. 9 illustrates a modem synchronization configuration screen that maybe displayed on a portable computer system. The configuration screen ofFIG. 9 allows the user to select which conduits will be executed duringa modem based synchronization. When a remote synchronization begins, theremote desktop personal computer will query the portable computer systemas to which Thus, the user can shorten time needed to perform asynchronization by only selecting the conduits that synchronized thedesired information.

Remote Dialog Box Dismissing

As described in the previous section, a portable computer can beremotely synchronized with a desktop personal computer system using amodem. Alternatively, a portable computer may also remotely synchronizewith a desktop personal computer system across a LAN using networkprotocols. In both situations, the user is physically far from thedesktop personal computer.

In the patent “Extendable Method And Apparatus For SynchronizingMultiple Files On Two Different Computer Systems” filed Oct. 13, 1995with Ser. No. 08/542,055, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,323 the mainsynchronization control program resides on the desktop personalcomputer. If a problem occurs during the synchronization, thesynchronization control program will normally display a dialog box onthe desktop personal computer. However, if the portable computer user issynchronizing from a remote location, the user will not be able torespond to dialog boxes displayed on the remote personal computersystem.

To prevent a deadlock due to dialog boxes that are not acted upon, thepresent invention introduces dynamic dialog boxes. Such dynamic dialogboxes are designed to automatically dismiss themselves if there is noresponse within a predetermined time period. To dismiss itself, adynamic dialog box sets a timer that will execute a callback routine inthe dialog box. If a dialog box is not dismissed by a user at thedesktop personal computer, then the timer will eventually pop and thecallback routine will dismiss the dialog box. If the dialog box isdismissed by a user, then the timer that was set will be killed.

Synchronization Transport Adaptation Layer

Different users of portable computer systems synchronize their portablecomputers with personal computers in different ways. For example, oneuser may always synchronize their portable computer with their desktoppersonal computer using a cradle coupled to the desktop personalcomputer. Another user may always be travelling and synchronizes withhis desktop personal computer using a modem or a direct connectionthrough a computer network. Yet another user may wish to synchronizeusing an infrared port that are available on both the portable computersystem and the desktop personal computer. In the future, wireless packetradio networks may become pervasive allowing a new method of remotesynchronization to become available. To accommodate all these differentsynchronization methods, the present invention introduces asynchronization transport adaptation layer.

The synchronization transport adaptation layer provides a singleconsistent interface between a synchronization program residing on aportable computer system and a plurality of different methods ofexternal communication. FIG. 10 illustrates the architecture of aportable computer system implementing a synchronization transportadaptation layer.

Referring to FIG. 10, the synchronization application communicates witha DL server (Desktop link server) that acts as a single unifiedcommunication interface for the synchronization application. The DLserver communicates a plurality of different synchronization transportadaptation layers. Each synchronization transport adaptation layerhandles communication for a specific type of communication means.

The architecture is designed such that the synchronization transportadaptation layer is expandable. Specifically, when the Synchronizationapplication is executed, the synchronization layer examines thecreatorID and type of each application installed on the portablecomputer system to determine if the application is a synchronizationtransport adaptation layer module. Thus, the synchronization programgenerates a list of all the synchronization transport adaptation layermodules.

The synchronization program then queries each synchronization transportadaptation layer module to determine which applications can create“services” for that particular synchronization transport adaptationlayer module (service creators). A service is defined as a set ofconfiguration parameters need to establish a connection with aparticular synchronization transport adaptation layer module. Theservice creator is used to create a set of configuration parameters fora synchronization transport adaptation layer module. For example, aservice for a network synchronization transport module would include thehostname and IP address of the desktop personal computer to synchronizewith. The service could be created by a preferences program that is usedto configure several different portable computer parameters.

After learning which applications may create services for eachsynchronization transport adaptation layer module (the servicecreators), the synchronization program queries all the service creatorsto obtain a list of the available services. After obtaining a list ofall the available services for all of the available synchronizationtransport adaptation layer modules, the synchronization program displaysa list of the available synchronization transport adaptation layermodules and their respective services. The user can then select whichsynchronization transport adaptation layer module and service to usewhen a synchronization is to be performed.

Referring to FIG. 10, a first synchronization transport adaptation layermodule is a cradle transport. The cradle transport handlessynchronization directly between a serial port on the portable computersystem and a serial port on the desktop computer system.

The second synchronization transport is a network synchronizationtransport. The network synchronization transport handles synchronizationdirectly between the portable computer system and a desktop computersystem using TCP/IP networking. The network synchronization use a TCP/IPon a host personal computer system to connect with a target desktoppersonal computer connected across a computer network. Alternatively,the network synchronization may use a TCP/IP and PPP stack on theportable computer such that a modem connected to the serial port of theportable computer system establishes a PPP link with TCP/IP networkcoupled to the target desktop computer system. Specific information onnetwork synchronization can be found in the U.S. patent application“Method And Apparatus for Synchronizing A Portable Computer System Witha Desktop Computer System” filed Jan. 30, 1997 with Ser. No. 08/792,166,now U.S. Pat. No. 6,006,274 which is hereby incorporated by reference.

If an infrared device is coupled to the serial port of the portablecomputer system then the synchronization application can use theinfrared synchronization transport module. The infrared synchronizationtransport module implements the necessary IrDA standards needed tocommunicate with a personal computer having an IrDA compliant infraredport.

Synchronization Password Protection

The information stored within a person's desktop personal computer isvery valuable. Of particular relevance to the present invention, thepersonal contact and calendar information stored within a desktoppersonal computer is very valuable. The personal contact and calendarinformation is also very personal such that a user may not want othersto be able to steal this information.

One method of stealing the personal contact and calendar informationfrom a personal computer would be to attempt synchronizing an emptyportable computer system with the personal computer system. Thesynchronization program on the personal computer would then inform theuser that portable computer is empty and that a new user can be createdor the name of an existing user can be used. The reason for allowing theuse of an existing user is to restore data lost from a portable computerdue to batteries running out or damage to the portable computer. Anunscrupulous person may attempt to steal a persons existing data byrequesting such a restoration.

To prevent stealing data in such a manner, a user may associate apassword with the data stored on a personal computer. Thus, when aperson attempts to restore information from an existing user back onto aportable computer, the desktop synchronization will require the passwordassociated with that user. Thus, the theft of personal data would not bepossible without the user's password.

The foregoing has described methods for synchronizing a portablecomputer system with a desktop computer system. It is contemplated thatchanges and modifications may be made by one of ordinary skill in theart, to the materials and arrangements of elements of the presentinvention without departing from the scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method of synchronizing a first computer system with asecond computer system, said method comprising: installing a firstsynchronization transport module to said first computer system;installing a second synchronization transport module to said firstcomputer system; executing a synchronization application on said firstcomputer system, said synchronization application automaticallyrecognizing said first synchronization transport module and said secondsynchronization transport module; receiving a selection of an activesynchronization transport module from at least said firstsynchronization transport module and said second synchronizationtransport module; and synchronizing said first computer system with saidsecond computer system using said active synchronization transportmodule.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, said method furthercomprising: configuring said first synchronization transport module byexecuting said first synchronization transport module.
 3. The method asclaimed in claim 1, said method further comprising: configuring saidfirst synchronization transport module by executing a preferencesprogram that modifies configuration parameters associated with saidfirst synchronization transport module.
 4. The method as claimed inclaim 1, said method further comprising, prior to the synchronizing:installing a third synchronization transport module to said firstcomputer system; executing said synchronization application on saidfirst computer system, said synchronization application automaticallyrecognizing said first synchronization transport module, said secondsynchronization transport module, and said third synchronizationtransport module; receiving a second selection of said activesynchronization transport module from at least said firstsynchronization transport module, said second synchronization transportmodule, and said third synchronization transport module.
 5. The methodas claimed in claim 4, wherein said first computer system includes aportable computer system, wherein said second computer system includes adesktop computer system, and where said first, second and thirdsynchronization transport modules correspond to a cradle communicationsmethod, a network communications method, and a modem communicationsmethod, respectively.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein saidfirst computer system includes a portable computer system and whereinsaid second computer system includes a desktop computer system.
 7. Aportable computer comprising: a set of installed synchronizationtransport modules, each synchronization transport module correspondingto a different external communication method; at least a first servicecreator application to create a set of services, each servicecorresponding to a set of configuration parameters for a correspondinginstalled synchronization transport module; a user interface forreceiving a selection of a synchronization transport module and aservice; and a synchronization application to automatically detect theset of installed synchronization transport modules, and to synchronizethe portable computer using the selected synchronization transportmodule and the selected service.
 8. A system for synchronizing a firstcomputer system with a second computer system, the system comprising: ameans, in the first computer system, for storing a first synchronizationtransport module and a second synchronization transport module; a means,in the first computer system, for automatically recognizing the firstsynchronization transport module and the second synchronizationtransport module; a means for receiving a selection of an activesynchronization transport module from the first synchronizationtransport module and the second synchronization transport module; and ameans for synchronizing the first computer system with the secondcomputer system using the active synchronization transport module. 9.The system as claimed in claim 8, the system further comprising: a meansfor configuring the first synchronization transport module by executingthe first synchronization transport module.
 10. The system as claimed inclaim 8, the system further comprising: a means for configuring thefirst synchronization transport by modifying configuration parametersassociated with the first synchronization transport module.